A fire broke out aboard a vessel after it was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said.

“The fire has since been extinguished and the vessel is under way. Crew is safe,” UKMTO said in a statement.

It said there has been no reported environmental impact or damage assessment.

Iran’s rial fell to a fresh record low against the US dollar, with the free-market rate crossing 2.5 million rials per dollar.

The dollar was quoted at 2.542 million rials, up 3.84 percent from the previous day, according to Pashizi, a website tracking Iran’s free foreign exchange market. It reached an intraday high of 2.548 million rials.

The Lebanese army said that it had received 47 Humvee military vehicles and five trucks as part of US assistance programs for the armed forces.
A military statement said that the vehicles were delivered at Beirut port.

“This grant comes within the framework of US authorities’ support for the military institution, with the aim of strengthening its operational capabilities and raising the readiness of its units,” the statement said.

Saudi Arabia has resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data, improving the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline, weighed on global oil prices on Monday as it added to signs of increased flows from the Middle East, from which the US war with Iran has throttled oil shipments.

The move follows reports that Washington will grant a one-month Treasury waiver allowing Iraqi Airways to fly the Iran–Najaf route, with a permanent exemption possibly next.

The US administration said it is offering to loan energy companies 40 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to control soaring fuel prices that have jumped on the widening war with Iran and Russia's war with Ukraine.

The United States agreed in March to loan 172 million barrels of oil from the SPR as part of a wider deal with about 30 countries in the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels.

Russia urged Iran to remain 'a responsible party' to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) following statements from Tehran that it seeks to withdraw from the nuclear treaty.

Speaking to reporters during a press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has heard statements on the possibility of Tehran’s withdrawal from the NPT from Ali Nikzad, the Iranian parliament’s deputy speaker, and that these remarks require further clarification.

“We would not want Iran to withdraw from the NPT. We consider the NPT to be the cornerstone of the non-proliferation regime. And we do hope that Iran will remain an important and responsible party to this treaty,” Peskov said.

Iran's leaders may radiate bullishness in their war with the United States, but life is becoming ever tougher for ordinary citizens unable to afford basic necessities or rent as a US blockade cuts the state's financial lifeline - oil exports.

From an engineer forced out of Tehran by high rent to a woman forced to stop smoking because of the price of cigarettes and carers struggling to buy medicines, all areas of daily life are affected.

"I'm forced to sell my items with a very small and negligible profit, yet I can't close my business because then I'd be unemployed," said Behnam Riazi, a restaurant owner interviewed on camera in Tehran.

Riazi cannot raise his prices because his customers cannot pay more - and most anyway buy only necessities now.

The International Energy Agency's member states may discuss whether more strategic oil reserves could be released on the market in the future, IEA head Fatih Birol said.

"We are following the markets very closely, especially the product markets, diesel and others. If there is a need, of course, we will discuss with our member governments to take the necessary steps," he told reporters in Dublin ahead of a meeting of EU energy ministers.

Birol declined to comment on proposals hinted at by French President Emmanuel Macron and others to release more strategic reserves in a bid to lower oil prices.